In a culture where the dominant form of communication is logical and verbal, art explores the power of visual imagery for personal and public communication. The Art Department provides students with the means to pursue this imagery with a foundation in visual studies. This foundation is necessary for students to develop practical and theoretical knowledge about a broad range of visual activity, both past and present; students are offered courses that expose them to the complex relationship between theory and practice.
The program is composed of courses in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, inter-media and interactive technologies, critical thinking, and electronic art; students are also encouraged to pursue interests in many other contemporary media and technologies. The Art Department offers project-based courses in digital media, hyper media, collaboration networks, and interface design for virtual communities and virtual realities. These courses utilize the Arts Division computer laboratory facilities which include Silicon Graphics Indy workstations and Apple real-time, nonlinear, digital video editing systems. Students may also take courses from other areas in the division which stimulate creative thinking in the arts.
The Art Department is committed to pursuing a continuing dialogue about what constitutes basic preparation in the arts while offering students experiences in established practices, new genres, and new technologies. Art and pre-art majors have enrollment priority in lower-division courses, but these courses are open to all students if space permits. Upper division Art Studios are only open to fully declared art majors.
Students graduating with a major in art may become professional artists or pursue careers in such diverse areas as arts management, museum and gallery practices, communication technologies, public school teaching, media arts, publishing, of the social domain. Many students who want to teach at the college level continue their education in graduate school.
